Early Life
Little is known about Griffith Rutherford's early life. Born in Ireland in either 1721 or 1731 to John Rutherford, who was of Scots-Irish descent, and Elizabeth (née Griffin), who was of Welsh descent, he appears clearly in records after his immigration to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen. His parents died during the voyage from Ireland, and for a while he worked on a relative's farm, where he was taught how to survey land. Around 1753, he moved to Rowan County, North Carolina Colony, and bought a tract of land about seven miles (11 km) from Salisbury, the first of several land purchases he made during the 1750s. In the following year he married his neighbor's sister, Elizabeth Graham, who bore him ten children. One of their sons, James Rutherford, later became a major during the Revolutionary War, dying in the Battle of Eutaw Springs. Rutherford also became friends with Daniel Boone, with whom he often went on hunting and surveying expeditions. After the French and Indian War, Rutherford became increasingly active in the community. He is listed as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1766, a sheriff and justice of the peace of Rowan County from 1767 to 1769, and a tax collector.
Read more about this topic: Griffith Rutherford
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Today’s pressures on middle-class children to grow up fast begin in early childhood. Chief among them is the pressure for early intellectual attainment, deriving from a changed perception of precocity. Several decades ago precocity was looked upon with great suspicion. The child prodigy, it was thought, turned out to be a neurotic adult; thus the phrase “early ripe, early rot!””
—David Elkind (20th century)
“There is a delicate balance of putting yourself last and not being a doormat and thinking of yourself first and not coming off as selfish, arrogant, or bossy. We spend the majority of our lives attempting to perfect this balance. When we are successful, we have many close, healthy relationships. When we are unsuccessful, we suffer the natural consequences of damaged and sometimes broken relationships. Children are just beginning their journey on this important life lesson.”
—Cindy L. Teachey. “Building Lifelong Relationships—School Age Programs at Work,” Child Care Exchange (January 1994)